


not that dumb

by hgthephoenix



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fix-It, Fluff, Game show episode, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know what I'm doing here, M/M, how do i even tag, krolia is ridiculous, romelle is just mentioned, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-27 23:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15695094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hgthephoenix/pseuds/hgthephoenix
Summary: after the game show, Keith and Lance talk in the Black Lion. a short story featuring wolf cuddles and lots of laughter





	not that dumb

**Author's Note:**

> hello there! i...have never written fic before this...i wrote this right after i finished season 7, and never did anything with it...but today i was like, why not, maybe someone will actually enjoy it? so here i am  
> this is entirely self-indulgent and for my own enjoyment  
> if you want more hate-free content and dumb klance posts, follow me on my tumblr, @hgthephoenix, and who knows, maybe i'll post more fics (i do have ideas for some lol)  
> 

“The guy was kind of a jerk, though, right?”

Lance sighed in relief. He had thought that Bob had been a jerk too, of course, but he had just assumed that the rest of his team had enjoyed his antics. Everyone else had seemed to enjoy Lance making a fool of himself, and none of them had yelled at Bob for his treatment of Lance or had tried to defend him. Lance had gotten his hopes up for a split second when Keith had chosen him at the end, but when asked why, Keith had just said he didn’t want to spend eternity with Lance. Which, honestly, had hurt, way more than Lance had anticipated.

So when he heard Keith’s most recent statement, he was more than a little confused. Seriously, Keith was being a little too hypocritical for Lance’s liking. Why would he care if Bob had been a jerk to him if he had just wanted to get rid of Lance the entire time? He didn't even want Lance to be there with him. Unless he wasn’t referring to Bob’s treatment of Lance at all? Unless he was just talking about his Bob's jerky attitude towards Keith himself, or towards the others? Ugh, these thoughts were getting him nowhere. Out loud, he said, “I’m not that dumb!”

In response, nothing. No one bothered to confirm or deny his statement, which was not reassuring in the slightest. Quieter, he mumbled, “...I’m not... _ right _ ?”

Lance almost jumped when Keith’s face appeared on his dashboard. “What are you  _ talking _ about?”

“Is that a joke? What do you _ think _ I’m talking about? Or am I so dumb that my sentences don’t even make sense anymore?”

He saw Keith cringe, then mumble a “Sorry,” then a “Hang on a tick,” before a huge ball of fur suddenly appeared in Lance’s face, and, before he could even comprehend what it was, he found himself sprawled out in the cockpit of the Black Lion, with Keith’s wolf sitting a little too close for comfort.

“Are you trying to annoy me, or what?” he complained, spitting out some wolf fur.

“No, I’m not.”

“What?”

“I  _ said _ , no, I’m not. I’m just - talking to people isn’t really my strong suit.”

“Well then why did you send your wolf to dump me in your cockpit?”

Lance sighed as he saw Keith hesitate. “I may not know what to say, but I do know that I need to talk to you. I want spend time with you, I just don’t really know where to start.” The corners of his mouth tilted up softly, and Lance was about to respond, but then -

“ - Hey Keith, I’ve almost finished programming this new simulation, come check it out!”

“ _ Quiznak _ !” Lance jumped a mile, and from his new position on the floor, he could see that the new voice was from no one other than Krolia, who was leaning against the wall on the other side of the cockpit.

“What the -  _ Mom _ !” Keith spluttered, his face turning scarlet, “Why are you still here? I thought I said I wanted to talk to Lance! I’ll look at it after, just -  _ go _ !”

Krolia smiled at him as she exited the cockpit, something that did not go unnoticed by Keith, who glared at her until she was completely gone from the room.

“Ugh, are all mothers like that?”

“What, you mean, do all mothers invest themselves way too much into your personal life and refuse to leave you alone? Well, mine certainly does. Or, did.” Lance chuckled. “God, I miss her.”

“You’ll see her soon, you know. You don’t need to worry much longer.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just - what if something happened to her - to any of them - since we left? It’s been years, Keith. I know that everyone you have is up here in space with you, but me, and Hunk, and Pidge, we all have families back on Earth who must think we’re gone for good now. There’s no way they think I’m still alive, and what if, when I get back, something happened to them? What if they don’t want to see me again? I left them, _ Keith _ , I -”

“Nope. Stop right there. There’s no point thinking about that stuff now.” He hesitated. “Can I...Can I sit down there, with you?”

Somehow, while they were talking, Lance had inched up from his position on the floor and had moved to sit against the wall with Keith’s wolf. “Yeah, sure,” he told Keith.

Keith got up carefully, and slid down the wall next to Lance, gingerly, as if he was afraid of getting too close, or of scaring Lance away.

“You know, when I was with my mom in the quantum abyss, we were there for such a long time that we needed to keep ourselves busy. Thinking about whether I’d ever see you guys again just made me feel sick, so I focused on spending time with my mom. It really helped to focus on the present, and to stop worrying about what may or may not happen in the future.”

“Wow, when did you get so smart? Must have been all that time with your fancy teleporting wolf and 200 year old Galra mom.”

“My mom is  _ not _ 200 years old, Lance.”

“You never know, Coran’s at least a few hundred years old, so your mom could even be older than that, if you think about it.”

“Nope, don’t wanna think about that. Stop right there.” Keith cringed, but as soon as he saw Lance begin to chuckle, he couldn’t stop himself from doing the same, and before they knew it, both of them were laughing. At exactly what, Keith wasn’t sure, but laughter felt good after so much stress. And he enjoyed seeing Lance let himself loose like this. It was something he hadn’t seen in literal years, and he had missed this part of Lance’s personality as much as he had missed how Lance fought flawlessly next to him in battle, or how he led the team much less recklessly than Keith himself, or how he was able to hit any target he shot at, no matter the distance or speed at which it was moving.

As their laughter slowed to a stop, they found themselves leaning together against his wolf, the atmosphere a lot more comfortable than before, Lance seeming much more at ease. Keith smiled, and jumped a little when he felt Lance’s head land gently on his shoulder.

Shocked, he looked to his right, and Lance was indeed slouched farther down, his head pressed on Keith. Very softly, he heard Lance mutter, “Did you really miss us? When you were with your mom, that is?”

“Yeah, I did. A lot.”

“But then why did you tell Bob you didn’t want to spend an eternity with me? Did you  _ really _ just vote for me as a joke?”

Lance sounded really hurt, much more hurt than he had on the show, or after, when they were talking about Bob with Coran. Keith looked at Lance and waited until he had eye contact before saying, “Is that what you really think?" Not receiving a reply, he continued. "Lance, I’ve never told you this outright, but I really do value you more than the rest of the team. Ever since I was forced into being the Black Paladin, way back when Shiro disappeared, you were the one who constantly kept me in check. You were always there for me, whether I was being tolerable toward you or not.”

Lance’s eyes grew wide. “I - you really mean that?”

“Yeah, and since I’ve come back from my time with the Blades, I’ve come to view you as my best friend on the team. You’re so important to me, and I’m sorry I couldn’t bring myself to say it sooner, but - the truth is, I chose you on Bob’s show because I thought  _ you _ , of all of us, deserved to leave the most. I know how well you work with other people, and you’re so versatile. If anyone deserves to make it home, you do.”

Lance was listening, her really was. But almost before he had finished speaking, Lance had grabbed Keith and wrapped his arms tightly around Keith’s back, showing no signs of letting go.

Lance sniffed loudly. He was beyond touched. He had allowed himself to hope that maybe Keith did care, since he had chosen  _ him,  _ after all. But he certainly had not been expecting Keith to say something like that to him. He couldn’t help but hug Keith as tightly as he could, trying to convey how he felt through touch. “Thanks, man. And you know, I meant what I said on the show too, okay?”

He pulled back a bit from the hug, just enough to see Keith’s face, and found that he was on the receiving end of a warm smile. “I know.”

Lance felt Keith's arms wrap around him tighter, so tight he could barely breathe. " _ Keith! _ " he managed to squeak out, "I know you came back bulkier, so I'd appreciate not being squeezed this hard; you're nearly suffocating me, man."

"Oh, sorry," Keith's grip loosened quite a bit. Feeling a bit guilty for making him loosen his hold, Lance began to rub Keith's back soothingly. They sat there together, just breathing each other in, relishing each other's warmth. Lance could feel his cheeks heating up. Confused, he attributed it to the stuffy air.

Sitting in the cockpit of the Black Lion locked in an embrace with Keith was definitely not how Lance thought he’d be spending his night, but he thought, just maybe, that he could get away with staying here for a little while longer…

“ _ Holy crow _ , Romelle! I have to go back!  _ Keith _ , I left Romelle all alone in my lion, she’s probably tearing it apart!" He jumped out of the embrace, starting to pace back and forth. "She already almost wrecked it on our first day out here, I can’t _ believe _ I didn’t realize she was still in there, how did I forget?” 

“ _ Whoa, _ calm down. You can go back to Red.” Keith looked alarmed, but amused, by Lance's sudden outburst. He gestured for his wolf take Lance back.

Lance practically leaped at Keith's wolf, expecting it to teleport him back to Red, and to inevitable destruction caused by a certain blonde Altean. He yelled out a quick "Bye, Keith!"

" _ Lance! _ " Keith grabbed his wrist, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "Wait, I - I really enjoyed spending time with you, we should do it again sometime." He let go.

“You know it, Samurai.”


End file.
